Minutes
Urbana-Champaign Senate Meeting
March 26, 2007

A regular meeting of the Urbana-Champaign Senate was called to order at 3:20 p.m. in Levis Faculty Center with Chancellor Richard Herman presiding.

Approval of Minutes

03/26/07-01          The minutes of the February 19, 2007, Senate meeting were approved.

Senate Executive Committee Report

Senator Vernon Burton (LAS), Chair of the Senate Executive Committee (SEC), provided the following report.

Senator Burton announced that Senator Nicholas Burbules has been elected SEC Chair for 2007-08 and that Senator Abbas Aminmansour has been elected SEC Vice-Chair.  Also, Senators Roy Campbell, Kim Graber, and Al Kagan were all re-elected to the Committee on Committees.

At the door today, there is a copy of a statement about the Chief that the Chair of the Senate Committee on Equal Opportunity, Professor Emeritus Belden Fields, presented to the Board of Trustees at its March 13 meeting.

Campus groups are working to address racial divisiveness and campus climate, among other things.  Representatives from student affairs, the dean of students, and the Senate are being assembled along with the heads of ethnic centers to be charged with developing a plan to deal with these important issues.

Tellers for today’s meeting are Senators Joseph Finnerty (BUS), Harry Hilton (ENGR), and Geneva Belford (ENGR).

Chancellor’s Remarks

The Chancellor reported that a campus working group will soon be charged with developing campus plans regarding participation in the Global Campus Partnership.  Dr. Herman also reported that the establishment of a committee to consider the status of free speech is very important, but they should not endeavor to develop a “speech code” since every effort to date for a university to do such a thing has been struck down by the courts.

Questions/Discussion

There were no substantive questions.

 Consent Agenda

The Presiding Officer announced that, absent objections of any senator, the following proposals were approved by unanimous consent:

03/26/07-02          EP.07.19*, Creation of an Undergraduate Major in the Sciences and Letters Curriculum in Atmospheric Sciences, LAS,
03/26/07-03          EP.07.21*, Animal Sciences Concentration within MS in Bioinformatics, ACES,
03/26/07-04          EP.07.22*, Crop Sciences Concentration within MS in Bioinformatics, ACES,
03/26/07-05          EP.07.23*, Proposal for New Program of Study: New Media, FAA,
03/26/07-06          EP.07.24*, Proposal to Revise Concentrations in Agroecology, Biological Sciences, Agribusiness Crops, Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, and Plant Protection in the Department of Crop Sciences, ACES,
03/26/07-07          EP.07.25*, Revision of Undergraduate Requirements for the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, FAA,
03/26/07-08          EP.07.26*, Revision to Bioengineering Minor, College of Engineering,
03/26/07-09          EP.07.27*, Change in Departmental Elective Credit Hours for the Bachelor of Arts in Urban Planning, FAA,
03/26/07-10          EP.07.29*, Modifications to Math./Computer Science Curriculum, LAS,
03/26/07-11          EP.07.30*, Modifications to Statistics/Computer Science Curriculum, LAS,
03/26/07-12          Concentrations in Higher Education in: Certificate of Advanced Studies (EP.07.39*), Master of Science (EP.07.40*), Master of Education (EP.07.41*), Doctor of Education (EP.07.42*), and Doctor of Philosophy (EP.07.43*), Department of Educational Organization and Leadership, College of Education.

Proposed Revisions to the Senate Bylaws

03/26/07-13          Presented for action was SP.99.06*, Editorial Revisions to the Senate Bylaws.  Senator William Maher (LIBR), Chair of University Statutes and Senate Procedures, moved its approval.

03/26/07-14          By voice vote, it was approved.

Proposed Revisions to the Senate Constitution

03/26/07-15          Presented for first reading and information was SP.07.04*, Editorial Revisions to the Senate Constitution.  Senator Maher indicated that this item will return for Senate endorsement at the April 30 meeting.

Reports for Information of the Senate

The following reports were presented for information:

03/26/07-16          HE.07.08*, February 6 IBHE,
03/26/07-17          HE.07.09*, February 23 FAC/IBHE,
03/26/07-18          SUR.07.02*, March 8-9 SURSMAC,
03/26/07-19          UC.07.05*, January 26 USC.

The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.

Robert C. Damrau, Senate Clerk
*Filed with the Senate Clerk and incorporated by reference in these Minutes.